Samui Elephant Sanctuary Reviews

Amazing experience, amazing creatures
We thorougly enjoyed our visit to the elephant sanctuary, which tuned out to be very educational. We learned a lot about the way in which elephants have been traditionally mistreated and the amazing work being done by the sanctuary, both to rescue elephants and to educate the public and elephant owners. The tour was informative, we had lots of close-up time with the elephants and felt that our entry fees were being used for an excellent cause. Due to COVID, the sanctuary is in desperate need of mor visitors. Highly recommended.

Tolles Erlebnis und gut betreute Elefanten
Es war wirklich ein einmaliges Erlebnis. Wir würden jederzeit die Tour nochmal buchen. Es wird einem viel erklärt. Die Guides nehmen sich viel Zeit für die Gruppe (8 Leute)
Man verlässt das Camp mit einem gutem Gefühl. Die Zeit mit den Elefanten war einfach toll.

Vous pouvez y aller
Nous y sommes allés le matin. Tout est très bien organisé : le ramassage où l’on dort, l’arrivée, la gestion du temps. Les gens sont -encore une fois en Thaïlande- très gentils. Le guide est très sympa, prêt à répondre aux questions. Finalement, ce qui m’a le plus plu est d’avoir vu les éléphants gambader librement une fois qu’ils se sont acquittés de passer du temps avec nous!

Fabulous experience
I wasn’t too sure about going to see this, but when I realised the proceeds go solely towards the upkeep of these rescued animals, I changed my view and I’m so glad I did.
This was a truly hands on experience. Feeding the elephants myself with a variety of fruit and rice balls combined with nutrients was a fabulous experience.
Seeing them roam around in large areas was truly uplifting.
Sad to see in this day age that these wonderful animals can be so badly treated. Thank goodness for sanctuaries like these who work tirelessly to give these animals a better life.
Delighted I went and glad that my donation has helped give these fabulous animals a better life

Moments émotions
La meilleure expérience de toute ma vie avec des éléphants. Un accueil et un service qui nous donne envie d’y retourner le plus rapidement possible.

Want to go back already
What an amazing experience.
We weren’t 100% sure what to expect before arrival as a lot of the places in Thailand claim to be animal sanctuary’s and aren’t but after a lot of research we found the Samui Elephant Sanctuary. These elephants are so loved and well cared for by the staff at the sanctuary and are truly now living a good life after being rescued from abuse. The elephants are fed properly with good quality food, allowed to roam safely whilst having the supervision of a member of staff at all times and allowed to actually be happy and safe.
All of the elephants have been rescued either from logging or tourist entertainment places and to rescue more elephants the sanctuary has to buy them from these dreadful places, so the more visits and donations from the public the more elephants they can rescue and give a happy life.

A lot of these elephants have been born in captivity and don’t have their natural instinct to be reintroduced into the wild although it has been attempted. But with a lot of hard work and patience the sanctuary has developed great relationships with the elephants and earned their trust. The elephants receive the medical treatment they require when arriving to the sanctuary and rehabilitation.

Whilst at the elephants sanctuary we learnt about the elephants histories and got to know their characters. We helped to prepare their food for the day and learnt about their diets and how other “sanctuaries” mainly just feed the elephants the cheapest fruit they can get, whereas they get a good healthy variety here. We then got to go round the sanctuary and feed all the elephants their rice balls and fruit and take some photos at a respectful distance. After feeding them all we then got to sit and witness the elephants actually enjoy and play in the water (not getting bathed by tourists which is not only dangerous for tourists but not enjoyable for the elephants).

Please please please if you are looking into visiting an elephant sanctuary whilst in Thailand visit this sanctuary as the more visits, then the more elephants they can rescue.

Thank you so much to all those at Samui Elephant Sanctuary for all the hard work you do to save these elephants!

THE BEST SANCTUARY VISIT
Most ethical you will find! Can see the love and care that the staff put in for these elephants. amazing experience, worth every penny

Ein unvergessliches Erlebnis
It was an amazing experience!
Go there and help to keep the old ladies safe through your money. They are taken care of super well after what they survived and I wish them to live even longer in this safe space created for them. Thank you

Et besøg værd
Fantastisk oplevelse. Besøg dem/ støt dem. De gør et kæmpe arbejde, for at redde elefanter fra storby og hårdt arbejde.

Ein tolles Erlebnis
Ein tolles, einmaliges Erlebnis. Das ist gelebter Tierschutz. Wir durften die Elefanten hautnah erleben und werden es nicht vergessen

Great experience!
We heard a lot good things about the sanctuary but we had been still very critical because we saw so many „sanctuaries“ in our life’s that we could not believe it that it’s really a sanctuary.

We arrived and got a good explaination about the elephants and also about how to handle them during the next hours!

Then we made food for them - we got a lot of information what they need and how it’s made.
Everything was explained very well!

Then you are allowed to feed them but not to touch them! You should always hold a certain distance! It was all guided and you were able to get in touch with the animals! Great experience!

Super ethical elephant sanctuary
Super place. This is what responsible tourism is all about. We visited with two young children who adored the place and want to go back. It is quite pricey but the money goes directly to the sanctuary so we didn't mind. For 3 hours you get a pick up/drop off, video, short talk, 2x snacks and drinks, get to make the elephants food, feed them then walk round the sanctuary and see the elephants bathing. No riding. No bathing. There are no fancy things here. No shop so don't come expecting a 'touristy' place. We loved it and what they are doing. Very friendly staff. Hopefully people will start to realise that elephants shouldn't be ridden. Good luck to the sanctuary in the future!

A must visit!!!
We had the most amazing time at the sanctuary feeding and stroking the elephants- they were so cute and gentle. The workers take amazing care of the elephants and they seem very peaceful and happy. Please spend your money here helping to look after elephants properly rather than at horrible tourist spots where they are awfully treated.

Sehr empfehlenswert, tolles Projekt!
Ich kann nur jedem empfehlen dort hinzugehen! Es ist so schön zu wissen, dass die Elefanten dort gut gehalten werden und nur das machen, wozu sie selbst Lust haben. Ich liebe Elefanten und war deswegen an meinem Geburtstag dort. Den Pflegern ist das beim Eintragen meiner Daten aufgefallen und sie haben mir sogar extra einen Kuchen besorgt und ein Geburtstagslied auf der Gitarre gespielt und ein T-Shirt geschenkt. Während der Führung haben sie geduldig und kompetent meine vielen Fragen beantwortet und zu jedem Elefanten etwas erzählt. Es ist auf jeden Fall das Geld für einen Besuch wert. Man unterstützt damit ein sehr tolles und wichtiges Projekt.

Excellent, we really liked it !
Samui's Elephant Sanctuary is really an amazing place with some people who truly love what they are doing. We strongly recommend you to go and visit this place to see some "happy" rescued elephants, and not some elephants who live like slaves.

Please visit and help support the elephants!
What a wonderful, emotional, tour, please visit and support them, these elephants have all been rescued from working situations, but due to COVID they are struggling to feed them, every person that visits makes such a difference to them, the staff have dedicated their lives to these animals, giving up their own food to feed these amazing animals. Thank you to the team there for what you do, and remember don’t ever ride elephants people! Xx

A Heartwarming Experience
I don't usually write TripAdvisor reviews for experiences I've had, but this one is truly worth visiting and I really recommend you do so when on Koh Samui.
During our travels in Thailand, we visited three elephant sanctuaries in three different areas of the country, and this one definitely felt the most ethical and caring for these gentle giants.
Upon arrival, you are split into small groups and taken around the sanctuary with a guide, who introduces you to each elephant and tells you about their life story prior to coming to the sanctuary. Unfortunately, each elephant has been through some terrible things, especially due to animal tourism (like riding on elephants' backs). It was heartwarming to see that even after all this trauma, the elephants were able to be playful again and trusting of humans.
Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and taught us many things, not only about elephants' living habits and biology, but most of all about the personalities and quirks of each elephant living in the sanctuary. Thereafter, we also got to see two of the elephants take a bath, which made for great photos of these majestic animals.
Although this experience is a bit pricey, it is definitely worth every cent to support this organization, as well as the new sanctuary they are building close by.

The most amazing experience
When you visit the elephants at Samui's first ethical sanctuary you not only get to see the elephants acting as natural as is possible, you learn and are educated so much about the history of the elephants and how they came to end up in this sanctuary. I would highly recommend a visit here to anyone visiting Samui and wanting to observe these amazing animals.

Unvergessliches Erlebnis! Definitiv eine Empfehlung wert!
Der Besuch des Elephant Sanctuary's auf Koh Samui war definitv das Highlight unserer Thailand-Reise. Wir haben uns ganz bewusst für das Sanctuary und gegen Elefanten-Trekking-Angebote entschieden, da wir diesen wunderschönen Dickhäutern einmal nahe kommen wollten, ohne dabei ein schlechtes Gewissen haben zu müssen. Es war wirklich atemberaubend diesen gigantischen Riesen so nahe zu sein und sie in ihrer Umgebung zu beobachten. Zu Beginn wurde auf die bewegenden und traurigen Geschichten aller Elefanten eingegangen. Wir waren den Tränen nahe. Umso schöner war es im Anschluss daran zu sehen, dass es ihnen heute im Sanctuary besser geht und sich ihr Leben zum Guten gewendet hat. Nach einer ausgiebigen Geländeführung durften wir die Elefanten zum Abschluss mit Bananen und Reisbällchen füttern. Einmalig!!! Ich kann nur jedem empfehlen das Sanctuary zu besuchen und somit die Elefantenschutzorganisationen zu unterstützen, weitere Elefanten aus der Unterhaltungs- und Holzindustrie retten bzw. freikaufen zu können. Der Besuch ist wirklich jeden Euro wert und dient einem sehr guten Zweck!

Rescued elephants unshackled from their chains, finally living a better life
Amazing place. Not only do you get to see the elephants and help prepare their food, but you hear the stories of the abusive situations the elephants came from, and get to see the life they are living now. They are now unchained, no longer have to pull logs, be ridden by tourists, or abused by trekking camps. Here they are able to express natural behaviors. The staff is fantastic and dedicated to caring for these majestic animals. Definitely worth going.